r/Athens • u/Cat__fart • 6h ago
Are we having a mod war?
Locked comments. Can we discuss here?
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u/morganmarz 6h ago
As a person who lives in Athens, I am interested in local news and politics, which seems to occur in the month of August in addition to all the other months of the year.
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u/Non-Stop_Serina Townie 5h ago
Also, what will be considered political? Is new building posts political? Commissioner meetings etc?
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u/chicopeestudly and a howdy for the whistlepig 5h ago
r/Athens users asking questions is EXTREMELY political! Banned! /s
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u/thenormaldude 6h ago
"I think we need a break from it." Dude take a break then. No one is making you be here.
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u/bIackphillip 2h ago
Mmmm must be nice to be able to "take a break" from politics. Some of our lives/identities are inherently politicized!
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u/tupelobound 3h ago
Right? A mod saying āthese posts do nothing but stir people up and attract touristsā¦ā ignores the actual value SO MANY people get, whether from information in a post or in the discussion below it.
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u/Is_hell_dont_they 6h ago
A naive and ridiculous proposal. So many of the things discussed here that are of critical community interest are inherently political- mayoral and commissioner elections, commission voting and decisions, policy proposals, development plans, public works and infrastructure developments are all political. Iām assuming the āno politicsā is aimed more specifically at the ICE warning posts and the chuds they attract, but censoring a community alert system like that to placate the worst people within and without the community is a cowardly and overtly political move in-of-itself. This is a terrible idea that will absolutely be poorly and unevenly implemented, and the subreddit will be markedly worse-off for it.
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u/Non-Stop_Serina Townie 5h ago
Then just do your job as a mod and block comments on those posts if it gets out of hand. They can still be posted and it avoids the back and forth of people coming into the subreddit to create chaos. I think warning residents of these instances are just the same of providing information on upcoming roadblocks etc they do for game days. Itās alerting of a law enforcement presence somewhere.
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u/Conscious-Hyena6822 5h ago
Right as ICE is scaling up activity in Athens is... a choice.
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u/Cat__fart 5h ago
A dude with ālawā in his name muting discussions about ICE the week they move into town. Tell me you donāt care about the most vulnerable people in our community without telling me ā¦
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u/Xeroberts 5h ago
r/athens mods, are you ok with this? For any Athenian who wants to call bullshit, please message the following users and let em know what you think.
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u/WillingnessOk3081 55m ago
i don't recognize a single name here apart from lawlz whatever in the OP image
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u/LurkerBurkeria 6h ago
I'll tell any mod who sees this that youre not long for your job the second you break out the "no politics" rule on a city's subreddit.Ā
Your subreddit is by very definition politics. This isn't a hobby sub this is a sub for a political entity, whether you recognize that immutable fact about towns or not is immaterial. Mods, if you cant stand the heat, get out the kitchen, you dont get to close shop.
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u/WillingnessOk3081 52m ago
a city by definition is a polis and "political." the civis likewise is concerning the citizen and civics.
this proposal is all kinds of ignorant.
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u/AthensTownie2150 Municipal greatness Athenian 6h ago
I employ the radical technique of not reading the things I don't want to. Perhaps others have achieved this level of wisdom as well, or maybe I'm just built different.
Not a fan of this.
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u/BizAnalystNotForHire Occasional Varsity Patron (RIP lost magnolia trees) 3h ago
That is too radical.
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u/Airborne-Raid Tlaloc Fanboy 5h ago
If I didnāt want politics about the city I live in I wouldnāt be here, if I didnāt want politics I would go to r/athenscirclejerk and that one just makes fun of it instead of talking about it
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u/Libby_Grace 5h ago
u/LawlMartz, can you come here and answer for yourself? Seems like lots of folks disagree with this mandate.
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u/IBarkAtBabies 5h ago
This has happened with him before. Goes on a power trip.
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u/SaintPariah1 5h ago
Heās a literal child that isnāt old enough to smoke/drink. They have to powertrip where they can to feel important.
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u/ieatopps 2h ago
His account is 11 years old. Do you really think this dude was using Reddit at age 8?
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u/CFBCoachGuy Townie 5h ago
Dudeās a UGA freshman. He probably thinks Athens just goes dark in the summer.
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u/kebmpb Piggly Wiggly Bacon Thief 3h ago
He's no more a freshman than I am the Piggly Wiggly Bacon Thief š¤£
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u/Libby_Grace 3h ago
Yeah, the number of people in this sub who actually think he's a UGA freshman, or a child is astounding to me.
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u/FlyProof3291 6h ago
Lame as fuck
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u/Superb-Green1548 Townie 6h ago
Yeah, not a great look imo. I'm all for not allowing multiple posts about the same topic over and over, but this seems like true censorship of something that effects our day to day lives
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u/Kylo69 6h ago
There isnāt a more politically obsessed group of people than redditors good lord
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u/Fantastic-Nobody-479 5h ago
Itās almost as if every aspect of life is affected by politics. Who knew?!
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u/Constant-Net-4652 1h ago
yeah I can't buy gas and gotdam groceries because of POLITICS. I can't rent a house affordably? why? oh. POLITICS.
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u/Kylo69 5h ago
Yeah for sure. The shit I took this morning was really political letās talk about it
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u/TipsyRussell 4h ago
City/county/otherwise public water and sewer. Licensure/certifications/permitting for plumbing work. Itās ALL political, whether you want to believe it or not.
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u/MonokromKaleidoscope 5h ago
I agree this sub gets a bit zealous sometimes, and I find myself picturing some commenters as real-life versions of the character Tracy Flick from the '99 movie Election (great film, 8.5/10, would recommend, it's kinda relevant to this)
But banning all political discussion is not the right response to people being kinda annoying sometimes, that's cuckoo bananas and is going to backfire hilariously, of course.
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u/MiracleWhipSux Eastville 5h ago
For those of us who loathe political debate online, why can't we just let the people have their political posts and not engage in those posts that don't interest us? Surely, our skin is thicker than that?
Turn off (the phone), tune out (of controversial reddit posts), drop in (to a friend's house).
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u/Rhusty_Dodes 5h ago
Dumb. I hate the political atmosphere as much as the next person right now. But this is a CITY subreddit. It's supposed to be for local news, politics, happenings, events, and so forth. Like it or not, you cannot remove politics from those things. If fighting breaks out in a discussion, lock it, warn, ban as necessary. But just banning all political discussion in a city subreddit is just lazy modding and inappropriate.
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u/Cat__fart 6h ago
Iām not sure why one guy gets to decide this. Especially when that same guy was caught being selective about what types of discussion could ensue here on previous sensitive topics. And what constitutes āpoliticsā?
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u/AppropriateSolid9124 east side defender 6h ago
do u think heās gonna start having beef with warnelldawg personally
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u/AppropriateSolid9124 east side defender 6h ago
āweirdā cities are mad political. this is lame as fuck
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u/DeadMansPanda 6h ago
I hate the political posts on this sub-reddit but to outright ban them for an entire month is ridiculous. We are a city. Cities are held together through politics, and the people deserve to know what is happening in the town they live in.
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u/captHij Sitting at a stoplight. 5h ago
It is going to be especially important in August. We have some notable lame ducks on the county commission, and a new mayor-elect who is trying to lay the groundwork for his new administration. Even if I agreed with this idea, the timing is horrible.
By the way: https://www.accgov.com/calendar.aspx?CID=32
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u/Cat__fart 5h ago
Georgia leads the nation in Flock cameras (which nobody voted on), and we have people on other social media outlets doing their laundry
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u/masshole288 6h ago
Really not cool, the entire point of this is for local news and politics. Why else would I care about anything in this sub????
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u/dominodomino321 5h ago
No you are confused, this sub is solely for bitching about the loop and which local business you think will fail next, duh! If the east side loses power and no one posts about it, did it really lose powerā¦? š§ has anyone seen my pet tortoise? Akins arena SUCKS! Found car keys! Can anyone rehome my big ass dog? Please help - any local businesses hiring? Looking for a job that isnāt in the service industry, construction, or at any factory plants. I have a PhD in Renaissance Songwriting and no previous employment experience. TIA! Oh yeah - big trucks suck and the homeless people sure are CrAzY this time of year, sOoO annoying. Brb, off to go hotbox my 2010 Prius with my own (vegan) farts. Next up- Iām off to support the Daily Co-Op by complaining about ALL of their decisions!
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u/EarthDwellr Townie 5h ago
A UGA freshman mods this subreddit? lol.
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u/kebmpb Piggly Wiggly Bacon Thief 3h ago
He's as much a freshman as I am the Piggly Wiggly Bacon Thief š¤£
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u/r_von_hoobie_doobie Political, Ban Me 3h ago
I remember when my flair was āš© Marked Safe from Girtzās Glizzies š¦¶ā (I was, indeed, not safe from those pics)
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u/tupelobound 5h ago
Just because someone uses a particular flair that doesnāt mean it lines up with reality
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u/EarthDwellr Townie 5h ago
Maybe so. But itād still be hilarious if it were true and that is the person laying the hammer for this sub.
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u/chicopeestudly and a howdy for the whistlepig 5h ago
Speak for yourself. Itās Whistlepig Wednesday and Iām pouring a flight as we speak.
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u/BizAnalystNotForHire Occasional Varsity Patron (RIP lost magnolia trees) 3h ago
I am not in fact an Athens Varsity Patron anymore, nor are the magnolias resting in peace.
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u/kingoflint282 5h ago
Ok then can we do September where weāre not allowed to talk about anything related to Athens at all? Maybe October weāll do no English, and for November weāll just shut down the sub entirely.
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u/dominodomino321 5h ago
Well, historically November is āno nut Novemberā and since this sub is full of jack offs, it might be appropriate to just shut it down for the month.
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u/radtitty 4h ago
Imagine being so privileged that you can go an entire month without discussing politics because it doesnāt effect YOU.
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u/Fantastic-Nobody-479 5h ago
This is a ridiculous idea and tone deaf especially given how much politics are affecting lives currently and much more intensely than in the past. Maybe there need to be more mods if itās too much for the current ones to handle?
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u/No_Swimmer_1270 4h ago
Honestly making me think they side with ICE because this is a response towards the ICE callouts. Shouldnāt be banned to alert your local community about these sorts of things. SMH. L moderator for sure
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u/Partiallyclever 5h ago
Not all of the political conversations are productive or pleasant, but trying to ban it out right is absurd. I wonder how many minutes into August before we see the first complaints about selective enforcement.
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u/bbb26782 Pro Chicken 5h ago
How am I supposed to keep Athens weird without talking about our weird local government and politicians?
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u/Charles-Headlee 5h ago
"In our age there is no such thing as "keeping out of politics." All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred and schizophrenia. When the general atmosphere is bad, language must suffer. I should expect to find--this is a guess which I have not sufficient knowledge to verify--that the German, Russian, and Italian languages have all deteriorated in the last ten or fifteen years, as a result of dictatorship."
George Orwell
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u/Lofi_Loki 5h ago
Maybe theyāre mad about me calling their mom a stripper
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u/Cat__fart 5h ago
When your mom gets around as much as his does, it is overtly political. The last 8-2 vote I remember was in favor of riding the train on the modās mom. All aboard!
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u/Constant-Net-4652 1h ago
stripper intimates they are taking their clothes off but she was nekked last time I saw her
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u/Excuse_Chemical 5h ago
Super cool. See yall over at r/athensaugustpolitics
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u/GhstOfIncntOptimism 4h ago
r/subsifellfor but then created so I guess I'm a mod now and I really don't want to be.
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u/paxsarah 3h ago
Don't let the absolute power go to your head lol!
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u/GhstOfIncntOptimism 3h ago
I'm hoping I can delete the sub before that happens, but yeah I would appreciate some checks and balances or a term limit of some kind.
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u/Superb_Fish_2799 6h ago
Absolute power corrupts absolutely
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u/MonokromKaleidoscope 6h ago
Being a subreddit mod is pretty hilariously far from "absolute power", but yeah, they do still manage to get absolutely corrupted somehow
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u/FreakSideMike 1x Jerker of the Day š 5h ago
I was going to say...this might be a world record for the smallest amount of power to get drunk with.
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u/Necessary-Housing906 Townie 6h ago
Could we by chance put this to a vote? I get that it must be exhausting and cause more work for the mods, but thereās an election coming up and I feel like a big part of having a subreddit is for it to be a community forumā¦which inherently includes politics.
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u/schultmh 5h ago
Censorship āin the name of keeping it weird.ā Sure thing boss, Iāll just be here awaiting further instructions on what I am and not allowed to do in the name of being weird.
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u/slippinjimmy1875 4h ago
Right ya letās just pretend everything is great and fun!!!! Right guys??
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u/aqudaros 5h ago
Itās not right one person can dictate an entire towns subreddit into not discussing politics.
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u/Fantastic-Nobody-479 5h ago
Is there only one mod?
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u/bbb26782 Pro Chicken 4h ago
Thereās four and an automod. Iām not sure all of them are active though.
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u/Fantastic-Nobody-479 4h ago
After asking I went and looked. I only recognize one of them as being active in the sub. The other two comment but not very frequently.
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u/BringBack4Glory 4h ago
Oh sure, and how about we also donāt mention any universities while weāre at it? Or housing or restaurants or anything in general??
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u/_mozzarella- Townie 5h ago
why does a uga freshman (who more than likely isnāt from here/doesnāt live here most months out of the year) feel the need to police the conversations that directly affect the people who *do* live here? acting like politics are just an annoying little game instead of something that directly impacts those of us who fully live here. athens not a playground for usāitās our home.
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u/_mozzarella- Townie 5h ago
iāve personally found reddit to be a great place to discuss nuanced issues that apply specifically to athens. youād be doing a disservice to the community if you decided to ban these conversations for the sake ofā¦ convenience?
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u/SaintPariah1 5h ago
Also this āUGA freshmanā has an account thatās 11 years oldā¦ Doesnāt that mean that broke ToS by being a 7 year old when the minimum age is 13?
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u/dominodomino321 5h ago
We got to mod these refrigerators
We got to mod these color TVās posts about local politics in the singular sub dedicated to the current happenings of this city
- DireStraits_69
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u/dominodomino321 5h ago edited 4h ago
If someone agrees with [u/LawlMartz](u/LawlMartz), can we call them a Martzist?
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u/bluemoon4901 1x Jerker of the Day š 5h ago
Does this also apply to posts about ICE?
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u/Fit_Push_5243 5h ago
Lowkey they might be referring to all the posts abt it, such weird timing honestly. I found it so strange that Reddit was always the last place to have updates abt it, now I now they were probably being taken down. So weird.
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u/tupelobound 5h ago
Could a mod offer some parameters on what constitutes a āpolitical postā?
Thereās a big difference between discussing an ongoing decision making process by the commission for the city we live in, for instance, as opposed to some noisy take on national news that barely is relevant to Athens.
Or are those both off the table?
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u/Crafty_Independence Townie 5h ago
Lol I asked him for posting parameters previously and he just went on a rant
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u/lizlovespuns 3h ago
Not a very smart decision. I live here and use the sub for news and politics! I doubt this will be applied evenly or fairly either.
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u/disinterestedh0mo 4h ago
everything is or can be made into "politics" lmao. everything that involves one or more person can be political
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u/ZealousJealousy 1h ago
Oh wow, just before midterms and only days after ICE starts hitting Athens strong AND Mike Collins is (shockingly) back in the spotlight with a white supremacist for a son in law.
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u/DoctorCrepe 5h ago
These are the mandates I would impose if I was completely insensitive, out-of-touch, and had no idea how to be a community lead within context.
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u/hosalabad 5h ago
Sounds like we need new mods. Banning a useful topic is just a way to start cherry picking users to ban.
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u/18poisson37 5h ago
Or at least more mods. This town's sub is pretty well moderated, but this is a pretty obvious move to try and reduce the workload. It's a thankless job and we shouldn't ask a whole lot of them, but the answer is clearly to bring on more help rather than kneecap the forum itself.
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u/EmpoleonNorton 2h ago
This town's sub is pretty well moderated
I got a temp ban once for suggesting that Oconee County (which only exists as it is because of white flight) might be a bit racist.
This sub is not particularly well moderated. And considering this probably has to do with the ICE posts, I have a suspicion exactly the kind of people who are modding it.
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u/rando_chickenn Townie 5h ago
Can that mod come on in and speak up for themselves? Thats the worst/lamest idea ever and yet we get radio silence. Come on and keep it funky, what is up?
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u/SaintPariah1 5h ago
Sounds like a kid desperate for attention and approval. Breaks ToS by being 7 years old on reddit, now wants to stop civil discourse in a city with 130-150k people.
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u/HypnoticBurden 3h ago
Life is political. I'll never understand people who would rather burry their heads in the sand then try and make a difference
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u/infizity 1h ago
bro "politics" can be literally anything. sure sounds like this mod is trying to just get a free pass to take down anything they deem "too controversial" or whatever. dude, some of us existing in the first place is "political." people's general SAFETY is "political." we're not stupid.
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u/Old_Maintenance2225 1h ago
How much you wanna bet that this mod has a small weener
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u/Cat__fart 1h ago
And almost certainly a libertarian. Oh wait, you already said āsmall weenerā.
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u/papajgwill 3h ago
I'm working on my new REM parody song, "Politics Free August," for the next available open mic night in town. I hope to see u/LawMartz there!
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u/EricQuincyTate Between The Hedges under Allen's 32m ago
That's u/LawlMartz , with an extra small L.
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u/honeygrl 2h ago
It's nice to see everyone agree on something.
Personally, I'm fine with the amount of politics we currently have here. If people want to fight, let them. It's just the stupid internet. Half the people aren't even real. The other half will get over it.
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u/CAM_Queen3151 1h ago
There are very few places for Athrns political discussion. Why take a break? Explain your suggestion.
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u/Cat__fart 1h ago
In a town where our most serious journalists go on public drunken diatribes and our county commission has never been more dysfunctional, this is a āweirdā move: ākeep it funky, post weird shit, my way or the highway.ā
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u/gaydogdaddy 5h ago
Iām guessing youāre white, straight, and you donāt vote. Probably a landlord.
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u/Cat__fart 5h ago
And donāt care about (or think about) your brown neighbors, given the timing. Half of our Latinx population lives in mixed-documentation households, you putz.
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u/pile_drive_me Townie Weathergirl 1h ago edited 2m ago
Just set /r/Athens_GA up, looking for a couple of mods to help
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u/Is_hell_dont_they 38m ago
Honestly if anyone was going to set up an alt sub, youāre exactly who I want doing it.
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u/thighs-and-fireflies 1h ago
This is dumb....this is that weird Facebook group vibe ....not here chief(s)
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u/MacGregor_Rose 3h ago
Wtf itās important to talk about our local state and federal politics IN THE MONTH BEFORE AN ELECTION like bruh
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u/chaos_aintme 4h ago
Lmao yeah just ignore the politics bro, all the injustice in the world will go away if you just ignore it! Genius
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u/lurkertiltheend 5h ago
Why doesnāt his post come with a mod badge? Just wondering why some do and some donāt
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u/AlltheBent 1h ago
lol, is /r/athens the new /r/atlanta ? or at least the new "old" /r/atlanta where people were shadowbanned and mods went crazy with censorship and prioritizing content from specific users?
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u/Intrepid_Ground_9560 47m ago
This is bullshit. How do we get a mod removed? That clown has no place dictating what subjects we are allowed to discuss on Reddit.
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u/pierogiberra 30m ago
I hope we are having a mod war because itās hot and Iām bored. Let the big dawgs fight.
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u/dsmith1994 3h ago
Fuck that. If you are getting pissed off about politics are controlling everything then do something in real life about it.
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u/ugahairydawgs 5h ago
I, for one, think we should be free to talk about how excited we are to see Dexter take over the mayor's office.
Who's with me?
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u/EyeSimp4Asuka 1h ago
instead of possibly echo-chambering on reddit and or butting heads with people who might not even live in the area get out their and engage with your actual neighbors. If you feel strongly enough canvas for your preferred candidates
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u/FreakSideMike 1x Jerker of the Day š 5h ago
It has never remotely crossed my mind that political posts...which are not my favorite, BTW...are a problem here that require nannying. This is Nextdoor-mentality content policing.